Featured

Inspired by the works of Arthur C. Clarke, J.G. Ballard and Philip K. Dick, Infinite Summer sees Michael Lovett’s NZCA Lines “marry sci-fi futurism to personal intimacies” to produce what must surely be one of the funkiest apocalyptic concept albums of all time. Indeed, also featuring former Ash guitarist Charlotte Hatherley and drummer Sarah Jones (Hot Chip, New Young Pony Club), the follow-up to 2012’s self-titled debut may center on […]

Named after a term used for trained assassins he heard in a documentary on espionage, Skilled Mechanics sees trip-hop trailblazer Tricky assemble his own killer team for the most collaborative studio effort of his lengthy career. Some of those on board are no stranger to the world of Adrian Thaws, including regular vocalist Francesca Belmonte who lends her sultry tones to the eerie synth-balladry of “We Begin,” drummer Luke Harris […]

As you’d expect from a founding member of studious classical-electro outfit Clean Bandit, British-Ugandan vocalist/rapper Love Ssega certainly isn’t short on brainpower. Born and raised in South London, the 24-year-old graduated from Cambridge University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, then made the brave decision to quit the aforementioned Grammy winners to finish his Ph.D. in laser sensing. Love Ssega (real name Ssegawa-Ssekintu Kiwanuka) is just as cultured as he […]

Judging by all the pre-release talk of shunning EDM, steering dance music back into a proper direction and making a piece of art, you’d expect Steve Angello’s second solo LP, Wild Youth, to be something of a game-changer. So it’s slightly baffling to hear that the Stockholm DJ has delivered the kind of unadventurous, generic and largely forgettable record he appears to be rallying against. Indeed, featuring guest appearances from […]

David Bowie, arguably one of the most influential figures in modern music for the past 40-plus years, died on Sunday, Jan. 10 after a battle with cancer. He was 69. While previous rumors of his death in years past were greatly exaggerated, the news has been confirmed by Bowie’s representatives and his son Duncan Jones (via Twitter). The following statement appears on Bowie’s official Facebook page: “David Bowie died peacefully […]

So after crowning Jamie xx’s “Loud Places” and Bob Moses’ Days Gone By as the greatest single and album of 2015 respectively, we now switch our attention to what we can expect to hear over the next twelve months in the world of dance/electronica. The first big album out of the blocks this year is Moth (Jan 22), the third album from alt-pop duo Chairlift, which judging by its first […]

Flashback: The Madness of KLF

In a week when David Bowie, Justin Timberlake and Destiny’s Child all unexpectedly premiered new material, it was the re-emergence of several albums more than twenty years old which perhaps caused the biggest frenzy.

Virtually wiped from existence since their 1992 split, The KLF’s concept albums Chill and Space and final studio effort, The White Room, suddenly found themselves on iTunes, Amazon and Spotify alongside bootlegs The Lost Sounds of Mu Vols 1 & 2 and The White Room (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack).

Released without any official confirmation, many believe the acid house pioneers’ back catalogue was somehow uploaded illegally. But considering Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty’s fondness for anarchy, it wouldn’t be a surprise to discover that the sudden re-emergence of their music was yet another of their ploys to baffle the music industry.

Indeed, since their initial incarnation as The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu in 1987, it’s fair to say that no other act has managed to flaunt such a disregard for convention while reaching such commercial heights. From debut single, “All You Need Is Love,” surely the only track to borrow from both The Beatles and Samantha Fox, to debut album 1987, What The F*** Is Going On, which the duo burned most copies of after failing to gain permission to use one of ABBA’s songs, their early sample-heavy material almost made Napster appear a beacon of anti-piracy.

Such chaos was merely a sign of things to come. In 1988, they confused their earlier champions by scoring a UK number one with novelty single “Doctorin’ The Tardis,” a glam-rock makeover of the Doctor Who theme which deliberately aimed at the lowest common denominator and paved the way for tongue-in-cheek how-to guide, The Manual (How To Have A Number One The Easy Way).

Incredibly, The KLF’s behaviour only got more bizarre as they became more successful. After scoring worldwide hits with “What Time Is Love,” Tammy Wynette duet “Justified and Ancient” and “3 a.m Eternal,” the pair decided the best way to celebrate receiving their Best British Group award at the BRIT Awards was to perform the latter with obscure crunk-punk outfit Extreme Noise Terror whilst shooting blanks into the audience before announcing that “The KLF have left the music industry.”

Add the fact that they then sent a dead sheep to one of the ceremony’s after parties with the message, “I died for ewe”, buried their award in a field at Stonehenge and later filmed themselves burning £1m in £50 notes as an artistic statement, and it’s undeniable that The KLF are responsible for one of the most insane music career exits of all time.

Share and Enjoy

About the Author

Jon O'Brien's love of music began as a six-year-old after becoming bizarrely transfixed with the 80s poodle rock of Heart, Europe and Def Leppard. Switching his attention to pop icon Michael Jackson, he then became addicted to the UK Top 40, becoming a rather pointless walking Wikipedia of chart positions in the process. Driving his poor neighbors up the wall while learning to play the drums as a teen, he toyed with the idea of becoming a musician, but in studying Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire, he realized heÕd rather write about music than perform it. Since then, he's written thousands of reviews and biographies on everything from bubblegum pop to death metal, but electronica remains his main passion, with everything from Aphex Twin to Zero 7 in his spare room-consuming record collection. Jon resides in northwest England near Liverpool.